Chan Kong-sang, SBS,[1]MBE,[2]PMW[3] (陳港生; born 7 April 1954),[4] known professionally as Jackie Chan, is a Hong Kong martial artist, actor, film director, producer, stuntman, and singer. He is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts, which he typically performs himself, in the cinematic world. He has trained in wushu or kungfu and hapkido,[5][6] and has been acting since the 1960s, appearing in over 150 films.

Chan is one of the most recognizable and influential cinematic personalities in the world, gaining a widespread following in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres, and has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[7][8] He has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, and video games. He is an operatically trained vocalist and is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums and sung many of the theme songs for the films in which he has starred. He is also a globally known philanthropist, and has been named as one of the top 10 most charitable celebrities by Forbes magazine.[9][10] In 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $350 million, and as of 2016, he was the second highest paid actor in the world.[11][12]

Early life

Chan was born on 7 April 1954, in Hong Kong, as Chan Kong-sang, to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, refugees from the Chinese Civil War. His mother or parents nicknamed him Pao-paoChinese: 炮炮 ("Cannonball") because the energetic child was always rolling around.[13] His parents worked for the French ambassador in Hong Kong, and Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the consul's residence in the Victoria Peak district.[14]

Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island, where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from the school. In 1960, his father emigrated to Canberra, Australia, to work as the head cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim-yuen.[14][15]
Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics.[16] He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes, a performance group made up of the school's best students, gaining the stage name Yuen Lo in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, and the three of them later became known as the Three Brothers or Three Dragons.[17] After entering the film industry, Chan along with Sammo Hung got the opportunity to train in hapkido under the grand master Jin Pal Kim, and Chan eventually attained a black belt.[5] Jackie Chan also trained in other styles of martial arts such as Karate, Judo, Taekwondo and Jeet Kune Do.

He began his career by appearing in small roles at the age of five as a child actor. At age eight, he appeared with some of his fellow "Little Fortunes" in the film Big and Little Wong Tin Bar (1962) with Li Li-Hua playing his mother. Chan appeared with Li again the following year, in The Love Eterne (1963) and had a small role in King Hu's 1966 film Come Drink with Me.[18] In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another kung fu film, A Touch of Zen, Chan was signed to Chu Mu's Great Earth Film Company.[19] At seventeen, he worked as a stuntman in the Bruce Lee films Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon under the stage name Chan Yuen Lung (Chinese: 陳元龍).[20] He received his first starring role later that year in Little Tiger of Canton that had a limited release in Hong Kong in 1973.[21] In 1975, due to the commercial failures of his early ventures into films and trouble finding stunt work, Chan starred in a comedic adult filmAll in the Family in which Chan appears in his first nude sex scene. It is the only film he has made to date without a single fight scene or stunt sequence.[22] Jackie Chan later also appeared in one other sex scene, in Shinjuku Incident.

Chan joined his parents in Canberra in 1976, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker.[23] A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, thus earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack" that was later shortened to "Jackie", and the name Jackie Chan has stuck with him ever since.[24] In the late 1990s, Chan changed his Chinese name to Fong Si-lung (Chinese: 房仕龍), since his father's original surname was Fong.[24]

Film career

Early exploits: 1976–1979

In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan, a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie's stunt work. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in a film directed by Lo Wei. Lo had seen Chan's performance in the John Woo film Hand of Death (1976) and planned to model him after Bruce Lee with the film New Fist of Fury.[19] His stage name was changed to Sing Lung (Chinese: 成龍, also transcribed as Cheng Long,[25] literally "become the dragon") to emphasise his similarity to Bruce Lee, whose stage name meant "Little Dragon" in Chinese. The film was unsuccessful because Chan was not accustomed to Lee's martial arts style. Despite the film's failure, Lo Wei continued producing films with similar themes, but with little improvement at the box office.[26]

Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal.[27] Director Yuen Woo-ping allowed Chan complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung fu genre, and proved refreshing to the Hong Kong audience.[28] Chan then starred in Drunken Master, which finally propelled him to mainstream success.[29]

Upon Chan's return to Lo Wei's studio, Lo tried to replicate the comedic approach of Drunken Master, producing Half a Loaf of Kung Fu and Spiritual Kung Fu.[24] He also gave Chan the opportunity to make his directorial debut in The Fearless Hyena. When Willie Chan left the company, he advised Jackie to decide for himself whether or not to stay with Lo Wei. During the shooting of Fearless Hyena Part II, Chan broke his contract and joined Golden Harvest, prompting Lo to blackmail Chan with triads, blaming Willie for his star's departure. The dispute was resolved with the help of fellow actor and director Jimmy Wang Yu, allowing Chan to stay with Golden Harvest.[27]

Success in the action comedy genre: 1980–1987

Willie Chan became Jackie's personal manager and firm friend, and remained so for over 30 years. He was instrumental in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his first forays into the American film industry in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was The Big Brawl in 1980.[30] Chan then played a minor role in the 1981 film The Cannonball Run, which grossed $100 million worldwide. Despite being largely ignored by audiences in favour of established American actors such as Burt Reynolds, Chan was impressed by the outtakes shown at the closing credits, inspiring him to include the same device in his future films.

After the commercial failure of The Protector in 1985, Chan temporarily abandoned his attempts to break into the US market, returning his focus to Hong Kong films.[26]

Back in Hong Kong, Chan's films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including The Young Master (1980) and Dragon Lord (1982). The Young Master went on to beat previous box office records set by Bruce Lee and established Chan as Hong Kong cinema's top star. With Dragon Lord, he began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences,[31] including the final fight scene where he performs various stunts, including one where he does a back flip off a loft and falls to the lower ground.[32]

Chan produced a number of action comedy films with his opera school friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The three co-starred together for the first time in 1983 in Project A, which introduced a dangerous stunt-driven style of martial arts that won it the Best Action Design Award at the third annual Hong Kong Film Awards.[33] Over the following two years, the "Three Brothers" appeared in Wheels on Meals and the original Lucky Stars trilogy.[34][35] In 1985, Chan made the first Police Story film, a US-influenced action comedy in which Chan performed a number of dangerous stunts. It was named the "Best Film" at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards.[36] In 1986, Chan played "Asian Hawk," an Indiana Jones-esque character, in the film Armour of God. The film was Chan's biggest domestic box office success up to that point, grossing over HK$35 million.[37]

Acclaimed sequels and Hollywood breakthrough: 1988–1998

In 1988, Chan starred alongside Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao for the last time to date, in the film Dragons Forever. Hung co-directed with Corey Yuen, and the villain in the film was played by Yuen Wah, both of whom were fellow graduates of the China Drama Academy.

Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market in 1995 with a worldwide release of Rumble in the Bronx, attaining a cult following in the United States that was rare for Hong Kong movie stars.[41] The success of Rumble in the Bronx led to a 1996 release of Police Story 3: Super Cop in the United States under the title Supercop, which grossed a total of US$16,270,600. Chan's first huge blockbuster success came when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 buddy cop action comedy Rush Hour,[42] grossing US$130 million in the United States alone.[27] This film made him a Hollywood star, after which he wrote his autobiography in collaboration with Jeff Yang entitled I Am Jackie Chan.

Fame in Hollywood and Dramatization: 1999–2007

In 1998, Chan released his final film for Golden Harvest, Who Am I?. After leaving Golden Harvest in 1999, he produced and starred alongside Shu Qi in Gorgeous a romantic comedy that focused on personal relationships and featured only a few martial arts sequences.[43] Although Chan had left Golden Harvest in 1999, the company continued to produce and distribute for two of his films, Gorgeous (1999) and The Accidental Spy (2001). Chan then helped create a PlayStation game in 2000 called Jackie Chan Stuntmaster, to which he lent his voice and performed the motion capture.[44] He continued his Hollywood success in 2000 when he teamed up with Owen Wilson in the Western action comedy Shanghai Noon. A sequel Shanghai Knights followed in 2003 and also featured his first onscreen fight scene with Donnie Yen.[45]
He reunited with Chris Tucker for Rush Hour 2 (2001) which was an even bigger success than the original grossing $347 million worldwide. He experimented with special effects with The Tuxedo (2002) and The Medallion (2003) which were not as successful critically or commercially. In 2004 he teamed up with Steve Coogan in the big-budget loose adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days.

Despite the success of the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon films, Chan became frustrated with Hollywood over the limited range of roles and lack of control over the filmmaking process.[46] In response to Golden Harvest's withdrawal from the film industry in 2003, Chan started his own film production company, JCE Movies Limited (Jackie Chan Emperor Movies Limited) in association with Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG).[27] His films have since featured an increasing number of dramatic scenes while continuing to succeed at the box office; examples include New Police Story (2004), The Myth (2005) and the hit film Rob-B-Hood (2006).[47][48][49]

Chan's next release was the third instalment in the Rush Hour series: Rush Hour 3 in August 2007. It grossed US$255 million.[50] However, it was a disappointment in Hong Kong, grossing only HK$3.5 million during its opening weekend.[51]

New experiments and change in style: 2008–present

Filming of The Forbidden Kingdom (released in 2008), Chan's first onscreen collaboration with fellow Chinese actor Jet Li, was completed on 24 August 2007 and the movie was released in April 2008. The movie featured heavy use of effects and wires.[52][53] Chan voiced Master Monkey in Kung Fu Panda (released in June 2008), appearing with Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, and Angelina Jolie.[54] In addition, he has assisted Anthony Szeto in an advisory capacity for the writer-director's film Wushu, released on 1 May 2008. The film stars Sammo Hung and Wang Wenjie as father and son.[55]

In November 2007, Chan began filming Shinjuku Incident, a dramatic role featuring no martial arts sequences with director Derek Yee, which sees Chan take on the role of a Chinese immigrant in Japan.[56] The film was released on 2 April 2009. According to his blog, Chan discussed his wishes to direct a film after completing Shinjuku Incident, something he has not done for a number of years.[57] The film expected to be the third in the Armour of God series, and had a working title of Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac. The film was released on 12 December 2012.[58] Because the Screen Actors Guild did not go on strike, Chan started shooting his next Hollywood movie The Spy Next Door at the end of October in New Mexico.[59] In The Spy Next Door, Chan plays an undercover agent whose cover is blown when he looks after the children of his girlfriend. In Little Big Soldier, Chan stars, alongside Leehom Wang as a soldier in the Warring States period in China. He is the lone survivor of his army and must bring a captured enemy soldier Leehom Wang to the capital of his province.

In Chan's next movie, Shaolin, he plays the cook of the temple instead of one of the major characters.

His 100th movie, 1911, was released on 26 September 2011. Chan was the co-director, executive producer, and lead star of the movie.[62] While Chan has directed over ten films over his career, this was his first directorial work since Who Am I? in 1998. 1911 premiered in North America on 14 October.[63]

While at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, Chan announced that he was retiring from action films citing that he was getting too old for the genre. He later clarified that he would not be completely retiring from action films, but would be performing fewer stunts and taking care of his body more.[64]

In 2013, Chan starred in Police Story 2013, a reboot of the Police Story franchise directed by Ding Sheng, and it was released in China at the end of 2013. Chan's next film Dragon Blade was released in early 2015.

In 2015, Chan was awarded the title of "Datuk" by Malaysia as he helped Malaysia to boost its tourism, especially in Kuala Lumpur where he previously shot his films.[65] In early 2017, Chan's new film titled "Kung Fu Yoga", a Chinese-Indian project, which also starred Disha Patani, Sonu Sood and Amyra Dastur, was released. The film reunited Chan with director Stanley Tong, who directed a number of Chan's films in the 1990s. Upon release, the film was a huge success at the box office, and became the 5th highest-grossing film in China, one month after its release.

He starred in his own production Skiptrace, which was released in 2016.

Music career

Chan had vocal lessons whilst at the Peking Opera School in his childhood. He began producing records professionally in the 1980s and has gone on to become a successful singer in Hong Kong and Asia. He has released 20 albums since 1984 and has performed vocals in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Taiwanese and English. He often sings the theme songs of his films, which play over the closing credits. Chan's first musical recording was "Kung Fu Fighting Man", the theme song played over the closing credits of The Young Master (1980).[66] At least 10 of these recordings have been released on soundtrack albums for the films.[67][68] His Cantonese song Story of a Hero (英雄故事) (theme song of Police Story) was selected by the Royal Hong Kong Police and incorporated into their recruitment advertisement in 1994.[69]

Chan voiced the character of Shang in the Chinese release of the Walt Disney animated feature, Mulan (1998). He also performed the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You", for the film's soundtrack. For the US release, the speaking voice was performed by B.D. Wong and the singing voice was done by Donny Osmond.

Personal life

In 1982, Chan married Joan Lin, a Taiwanese actress. Their son, singer and actor Jaycee Chan, was born that same year.[46] As a result of an extra-marital affair with Chan, Elaine Ng Yi-Lei bore a daughter on 18 January 1999. Although he does not want to be embroiled in his 'second family affair', he still provides child support to Elaine and Etta while, resuming his married life with Lin Feng Jiao. Reportedly, he gave Elaine approximately HK$350,000/month for her extravagant living expenses when she was in Shanghai and bought an expensive property for her and the child.
He has since cut all ties and stopped providing support when Elaine relocated to Hong Kong with her daughter because recently, she made a few public appearances that led to stirs of controversy surrounding his past. [79][80][81] Chan stated he had "only committed a fault that many men in the world commit".[82][83][84] However, Elaine decided she would take care of her daughter without Chan.[85]

Stunts and screen persona

Chan has performed most of his own stunts throughout his film career, which are choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. He has stated in interviews that the primary inspiration for his more comedic stunts were films such as The General, directed by and starring Buster Keaton who was also known to perform his own stunts. The team was established in 1983, and Chan has used them in all his subsequent films to make choreographing easier, given his understanding of each member's abilities.[89] Chan and his team undertake many of the stunts performed by other characters in his films, shooting the scenes so that their faces are obscured.[90]

The dangerous nature of his stunts makes it difficult to get insurance, especially in the United States where his stunt work is contractually limited.[90] Chan holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Stunts by a Living Actor", which emphasizes that "no insurance company will underwrite Chan's productions in which he performs all his own stunts".[91]

Chan has been injured frequently when attempting stunts; many of them have been shown as outtakes or as bloopers during the closing credits of his films. He came closest to death filming Armour of God when he fell from a tree and fractured his skull. Over the years, he has dislocated his pelvis and also broken numerous parts of his body, including his fingers, toes, nose, both cheekbones, hips, sternum, neck, ankle, and ribs.[92][93] Promotional materials for Rumble in the Bronx emphasised that he performed all of the stunts, and one version of the movie poster even diagrammed his many injuries.

Chan created his screen persona as a response to the late Bruce Lee and the numerous imitators who appeared before and after Lee's death. Lee's characters were typically stern, morally upright heroes. In contrast, Chan plays well-meaning, slightly foolish regular men, often at the mercy of their friends, girlfriends, or families, who always triumph in the end despite the odds.[24] Additionally, he has stated that he deliberately styles his movement to be the opposite of Lee's: where Lee held his arms wide, Chan holds his tight to the body; where Lee was loose and flowing, Chan is tight and choppy. Despite the success of the Rush Hour series, Chan has stated that he is not a fan of it, since he neither appreciates the action scenes in the movie nor understands American humour.[94]

In the 2000s, the aging Chan grew tired of being typecast as an action hero, prompting him to act with more emotion in his latest films.[95] In New Police Story, he portrayed a character suffering from alcoholism and mourning his murdered colleagues.[67] To further shed the image of "nice guy", Chan played an anti-hero for the first time in Rob-B-Hood starring as Thongs, a burglar with gambling problems.[96] He plays a low-level gangster in 2009's Shinjuku Incident, a serious drama set in Tokyo about unsavory characters.[97]

Legacy

Chan has received worldwide recognition for his acting and stunt work. His awards include the Innovator Award from the American Choreography Awards and a lifetime achievement award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards.[98] He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars.[99] In addition, Chan has also been honoured by placing his hand and footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.[100] Despite considerable box office success in Asia, Chan's Hollywood films have been criticised with regard to their action choreography. Reviewers of Rush Hour 2, The Tuxedo, and Shanghai Knights noted the toning down of Chan's fighting scenes, citing less intensity compared to his earlier films.[101][102][103] The comedic value of his films is questioned; some critics stating that they can be childish at times.[104] Chan was awarded the MBE in 1989 and the Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) in 1999.

Jackie Chan has a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi Motors that has resulted in the appearance of Mitsubishi cars in a number of his films. Furthermore, Mitsubishi launched a limited series of Evolution cars personally customised by Chan.[109][110][111]

A number of video games have featured Chan. Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu was released in 1990 for the PC-Engine and NES. In 1995, Chan was featured in the arcade fighting game Jackie Chan The Kung-Fu Master. A series of Japanese games were released on the MSX by Pony, based on several of Chan's films (Project A, Project A 2, Police Story, The Protector and Wheels on Meals).[112]

Chan says he has always wanted to be a role model to children, and has remained popular with them due to his good-natured acting style. He has generally refused to play villains and has been very restrained in using swear words in his films – he persuaded the director of Rush Hour to take "fuck" out of the script.[113] Chan's greatest regret in life is not having received a proper education,[114] inspiring him to fund educational institutions around the world. He funded the construction of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the Australian National University[115] and the establishment of schools in poor regions of China.[116]

Construction has begun on a Jackie Chan museum in Shanghai. In November 2013, a statue of Chan was unveiled in front of what is now known as the JC Film Gallery, scheduled to open in the spring of 2014.[122]

On 25 June 2013, Chan responded to a hoax Facebook page created a few days earlier that alleged he had died. He said that several people contacted him to congratulate him on his recent engagement, and soon thereafter contacted him again to ask if he was still alive. He posted a Facebook message, commenting: "If I died, I would probably tell the world!"[123][124]

In 2015, a made-up word inspired by Chan's description of his hair during an interview for a commercial, duang, became an internet viral meme in China. The Chinese character for the word is a composite of two characters of Chan's name.[127]

Political views and controversy

The Hong Kong Star, in Hong Kong

During a news conference in Shanghai on 28 March 2004, Chan referred to the recently concluded Republic of China 2004 presidential election in Taiwan, in which Democratic Progressive Party candidates Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu were re-elected as President and Vice-President, as "the biggest joke in the world".[128][129][130] A Taiwanese legislator and senior member of the DPP, Parris Chang, called for the government of Taiwan to ban his films and bar him the right to visit Taiwan.[128] Police and security personnel separated Chan from scores of protesters shouting "Jackie Chan, get out" when he arrived at Taipei airport in June 2008.[131]

Referring to his participation in the torch relay for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chan spoke out against demonstrators who disrupted the relay several times attempting to draw attention to a wide-ranging number of grievances against the Chinese government. He warned that "publicity seekers" planning to stop him from carrying the Olympic Torch "not get anywhere near" him. Chan also argued that the Olympics coverage that year would "provide another way for us to tell the world about Chinese culture."[132]

In 2009, Chan was named an "anti-drug ambassador" by the Chinese government, actively taking part in anti-drug campaigns and supporting President Hu Jintao's declaration that illegal drugs should be eradicated, and their users punished severely. In 2014, when his own son Jaycee was arrested for cannabis use, he said that he was "angry", "shocked", "heartbroken" and "ashamed" of his son. He also remarked, "I hope all young people will learn a lesson from Jaycee and stay far from the harm of drugs. I say to Jaycee that you have to accept the consequences when you do something wrong."[133]

On 18 April 2009, during a panel discussion at the annual Boao Forum for Asia, he questioned whether or not broad freedom is a good thing.[134] Noting the strong tensions in Hong Kong and Taiwan, he said, "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."[135][136] Chan's comments prompted angry responses from several prominent figures in Taiwan and Hong Kong.[137][138] A spokesman later said Chan was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry, rather than in Chinese society at large.[139]

In December 2012, Chan caused outrage when he criticised Hong Kong as a "city of protest", suggesting that demonstrators' rights in Hong Kong should be limited.[140] The same month, in an interview with Phoenix TV, Chan stated that the United States was the "most corrupt" country in the world,[141][142] which in turn angered parts of the online community.[142][143] Other articles situated Chan's comments in the context of his career and life in the United States, including his "embrace of the American film market"[143] and his seeking asylum in the United States from Hong Kong triads.[144]

Entrepreneurship and philanthropy

The Duke of Cambridge with actor Jackie Chan at the London Conference on The Illegal Wildlife Trade at the Natural History Museum, 12 February 2014.

In addition to his film production and distribution company, JCE Movies Limited, Jackie Chan also owns or co-owns the production companies JC Group China, Jackie & Willie Productions[146] (with Willie Chan) and Jackie & JJ Productions.[147] Chan has also put his name to Jackie Chan Theater International, a cinema chain in China, co-run by Hong Kong company Sparkle Roll Group Ltd. The first—Jackie Chan-Yaolai International Cinema—opened in February 2010, and is claimed to be the largest cinema complex in China, with 17 screens and 3,500 seats. Chan expressed his hopes that the size of the venue would afford young, non-commercial directors the opportunity to have their films screened. 15 further cinemas in the chain are planned for 2010,[needs update] throughout Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with a potential total of 65 cinemas throughout the country proposed.[148][149]

In 2004, Chan launched his own line of clothing, which bears a Chinese dragon logo and the English word "Jackie", or the initials "JC".[150] Chan also has a number of other branded businesses. His sushi restaurant chain, Jackie's Kitchen, has outlets throughout Hong Kong, as well as seven in South Korea, with plans to open another in Las Vegas. Jackie Chan's Cafe has outlets in Beijing, Singapore, and the Philippines. Other ventures include Jackie Chan Signature Club gyms (a partnership with California Fitness), and a line of chocolates, cookies and nutritional oatcakes.[151] With each of his businesses, a percentage of the profits goes to various charities, including the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.

Chan founded the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation in 1988, to offers scholarship and active help to Hong Kong's young people and provide aid to victims of natural disaster or illness.[10]
In 2005 Chan created the Dragon's Heart Foundation to help children and the elderly in remote areas of China by building schools, providing books, fees, and uniforms for children; the organisation expanded its reach to Europe in 2011.[164][165] The foundation also provides for the elderly with donations of warm clothing, wheelchairs, and other items.

1.
Chinese name
–
Chinese personal names are names used by those from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora overseas. Prior to the 20th century, educated Chinese also utilized a courtesy name or style name called zi by which they were known among those outside of their family and closest friends. From at least the time of the Shang dynasty, the Han Chinese observed a number of naming taboos regulating who may or may not use a given name. In general, using the given name connoted the speakers authority, peers and younger relatives were barred from speaking it. Owing to this, many historical Chinese figures – particularly emperors – used a half-dozen or more different names in different contexts and those possessing names identical to the emperors were frequently forced to change them. Although some terms in the ancient Chinese naming system, such as xìng and míng, are used today, they were used in different. Commoners possessed only a name, and the modern concept of a surname or family name did not yet exist at any level of society.3 billion citizens. In fact, just the top three – Wang, Li, and Zhang – cover more than 20% of the population. This homogeneity results from the majority of Han family names having only one character. Chinese surnames arose from two separate traditions, the xìng and the shì. The original xìng were clans of royalty at the Shang court, the shì did not originate from families, but denoted fiefs, states, and titles granted or recognized by the Shang court. Apart from the Jiang and Yao families, the original xìng have nearly disappeared, xìng is now used to describe the shì surnames which replaced them, while shì is used to refer to maiden names. The enormous modern clans sometimes share ancestral halls with one another, nonetheless, however tenuous these bonds sometimes are, it remains a minor taboo to marry someone with the same family name. In modern mainland China, it is the norm that a woman keeps her name unchanged. A child usually inherits his/her fathers surname, though the law explicitly states that a child may use either parents or the grandparents. It is also possible, though far less common, for a child to both parents surnames. In the older generations, it was common for a married woman to prepend her husbands surname to her own. This practice is now almost extinct in mainland China, though there are a few such as the name change of Gu Kailai, but survives in some Hong Kong, Macau

2.
Chinese surname
–
Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and among overseas Chinese communities. In ancient times two types of surnames existed, namely xing or lineage names, and shi or clan names, Chinese family names are patrilineal, passed from father to children. Women do not normally change their surnames upon marriage, except in places with more Western influences such as Hong Kong, traditionally Chinese surnames have been exogamous. The colloquial expressions laobaixing and bǎixìng are used in Chinese to mean ordinary folks, prior to the Warring States period, only the ruling families and the aristocratic elite had surnames. Historically there was also a difference between clan names or xing and lineages names or shi, Xing were surnames held by the noble clans. They generally are composed of a nü radical which has taken by some as evidence they originated from matriarchal societies based on maternal lineages. Another hypothesis has been proposed by sinologist Léon Vandermeersch upon observation of the evolution of characters in oracular scripture from the Shang dynasty through the Zhou, the female radical seems to appear at the Zhou period next to Shang sinograms indicating an ethnic group or a tribe. This combination seems to designate specifically a female and could mean lady of such or such clan, prior to the Qin Dynasty China was largely a fengjian society. In this way, a nobleman would hold a shi and a xing, after the states of China were unified by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC, surnames gradually spread to the lower classes and the difference between xing and shi blurred. Many shi surnames survive to the present day, according to Kiang Kang-Hu, there are 18 sources from which Chinese surnames may be derived, while others suggested at least 24. The following are some of the sources, Xing, These were usually reserved for the central lineage of the royal family. Of these xings, only Jiang and Yao have survived in their form to modern days as frequently occurring surnames. Royal decree by the Emperor, such as Kuang, state name, Many nobles and commoners took the name of their state, either to show their continuing allegiance or as a matter of national and ethnic identity. These are some of the most common Chinese surnames, name of a fief or place of origin, Fiefdoms were often granted to collateral branches of the aristocracy and it was natural as part of the process of sub-surnaming for their names to be used. An example is Di, Marquis of Ouyangting, whose descendants took the surname Ouyang, there are some two hundred examples of this identified, often of two-character surnames, but few have survived to the present. Names of an ancestor, Like the previous example, this was also a common origin with close to 500 or 600 examples,200 of which are two-character surnames, often an ancestors courtesy name would be used. For example, Yuan Taotu took the character of his grandfathers courtesy name Boyuan as his surname. Sometimes titles granted to ancestors could also be taken as surnames, seniority within the family, In ancient usage, the characters of meng, zhong, shu and ji were used to denote the first, second, third and fourth eldest sons in a family

3.
Chen (surname)
–
Chen is one of the most common East Asian surnames of Chinese origin. It ranks as the 5th most common surname in China as of 2007, Chen is also the most common family name in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hong Kong. It is the most common surname in Xiamen, the hometown of many overseas Hoklo. Besides 陳/陈, an uncommon Chinese surname 諶/谌 is also romanized as Chen and it is usually romanised as Chan in Cantonese, most widely used by those from Hong Kong, and sometimes as Chun. The spelling, Chan, is used in Macao and Malaysia. In Min, the name is pronounced Tan, in Hakka and Taishanese, the name is spelled Gin. Some other Romanisations include Zen, Ding and Chern, Chen can be variously spelt as Tan, Chan or Chin in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. Chen is commonly spelled Chang in Peru, the Korean surname 진 is the Korean pronunciation of the same character. In Japanese, the surname is transliterated Chin, in Vietnam, this surname is written in Quốc Ngữ as Trần and it is the second most common surname. Chen was derived from Gui, the surname of the descendants of the sage king Emperor Shun. When King Wu of Zhou established the Zhou dynasty in 1046/45 BC, Gui Man was said to be a descendant of Emperor Shun, at the State of Chen, in modern Huaiyang County, Henan Province. Chen was conquered by Chu in 479 BC, and the people of Chen adopted the name of their state as their surname. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, Chen Baxian established the Chen Dynasty, the fourth and the last of the Southern dynasties, which was eventually destroyed by the Sui Dynasty

4.
Sydney Opera House
–
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, Australia. It is one of the 20th centurys most famous and distinctive buildings, designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the building was formally opened on 20 October 1973 after a gestation beginning with Utzons 1957 selection as winner of an international design competition. The government of New South Wales, led by the premier, Joseph Cahill, performances are presented by numerous performing artists, including four resident companies, Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. As one of the most popular attractions in Australia, more than eight million people visit the site annually. The building is managed by the Sydney Opera House Trust, an agency of the New South Wales State Government, on 28 June 2007, the Sydney Opera House became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The building covers 1.8 hectares of land and is 183 m long and 120 m wide at its widest point and it is supported on 588 concrete piers sunk as much as 25 m below sea level. Although the roof structures are referred to as shells, they are precast concrete panels supported by precast concrete ribs. Though the shells appear uniformly white from a distance, they feature a subtle chevron pattern composed of 1,056,006 tiles in two colours, glossy white and matte cream. The tiles were manufactured by the Swedish company Höganäs AB which generally produced stoneware tiles for the paper-mill industry. Apart from the tile of the shells and the curtain walls of the foyer spaces. Significant interior surface treatments also include off-form concrete, Australian white birch plywood supplied from Wauchope in northern New South Wales, of the two larger spaces, the Concert Hall is in the western group of shells, the Joan Sutherland Theatre in the eastern group. The scale of the shells was chosen to reflect the internal requirements, with low entrance spaces. The smaller venues are within the podium, beneath the Concert Hall, a smaller group of shells set to the western side of the Monumental Steps houses the Bennelong Restaurant. The podium is surrounded by substantial open spaces, and the large stone-paved forecourt area with the adjacent monumental steps is regularly used as a performance space. The Sydney Opera House includes a number of venues, Concert Hall, With 2,679 seats. It contains the Sydney Opera House Grand Organ, the largest mechanical action organ in the world. Joan Sutherland Theatre, A proscenium theatre with 1,507 seats, until 16 October 2012 it was known as the Opera Theatre. Drama Theatre, A proscenium theatre with 544 seats, used by the Sydney Theatre Company and other dance, Playhouse, An end-stage theatre with 398 seats

5.
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world

6.
Simplified Chinese characters
–
Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time

7.
Pinyin
–
Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks

8.
Standard Chinese
–
Its pronunciation is based on the Beijing dialect, its vocabulary on the Mandarin dialects, and its grammar is based on written vernacular Chinese. Like other varieties of Chinese, Standard Chinese is a language with topic-prominent organization. It has more initial consonants but fewer vowels, final consonants, Standard Chinese is an analytic language, though with many compound words. There exist two standardised forms of the language, namely Putonghua in Mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan, aside from a number of differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, Putonghua is written using simplified Chinese characters, while Guoyu is written using traditional Chinese characters. There are many characters that are identical between the two systems, in English, the governments of China and Hong Kong use Putonghua, Putonghua Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, and Mandarin, while those of Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, use Mandarin. The name Putonghua also has a long, albeit unofficial, history and it was used as early as 1906 in writings by Zhu Wenxiong to differentiate a modern, standard Chinese from classical Chinese and other varieties of Chinese. For some linguists of the early 20th century, the Putonghua, or common tongue/speech, was different from the Guoyu. The former was a prestige variety, while the latter was the legal standard. Based on common understandings of the time, the two were, in fact, different, Guoyu was understood as formal vernacular Chinese, which is close to classical Chinese. By contrast, Putonghua was called the speech of the modern man. The use of the term Putonghua by left-leaning intellectuals such as Qu Qiubai, prior to this, the government used both terms interchangeably. In Taiwan, Guoyu continues to be the term for Standard Chinese. The term Putonghua, on the contrary, implies nothing more than the notion of a lingua franca, Huayu, or language of the Chinese nation, originally simply meant Chinese language, and was used in overseas communities to contrast Chinese with foreign languages. Over time, the desire to standardise the variety of Chinese spoken in these communities led to the adoption of the name Huayu to refer to Mandarin and it also incorporates the notion that Mandarin is usually not the national or common language of the areas in which overseas Chinese live. The term Mandarin is a translation of Guānhuà, which referred to the lingua franca of the late Chinese empire, in English, Mandarin may refer to the standard language, the dialect group as a whole, or to historic forms such as the late Imperial lingua franca. The name Modern Standard Mandarin is sometimes used by linguists who wish to distinguish the current state of the language from other northern. Chinese has long had considerable variation, hence prestige dialects have always existed. Confucius, for example, used yǎyán rather than colloquial regional dialects, rime books, which were written since the Northern and Southern dynasties, may also have reflected one or more systems of standard pronunciation during those times

9.
Jyutping
–
Jyutping is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong, an academic group, in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanisation Scheme, the LSHK promotes the use of this romanisation system. The name Jyutping is a contraction consisting of the first Chinese characters of the terms Jyut6jyu5, only the finals m and ng can be used as standalone nasal syllables. ^ ^ ^ Referring to the pronunciation of these words. There are nine tones in six distinct tone contours in Cantonese, however, as three of the nine are entering tones, which only appear in syllables ending with p, t, and k, they do not have separate tone numbers in Jyutping. Jyutping and the Yale Romanisation of Cantonese represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they differ in the following, The vowels eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping, the initial j represents /j/ in Jyutping whereas y is used instead in Yale. The initial z represents /ts/ in Jyutping whereas j is used instead in Yale, the initial c represents /tsʰ/ in Jyutping whereas ch is used instead in Yale. In Jyutping, if no consonant precedes the vowel yu, then the initial j is appended before the vowel, in Yale, the corresponding initial y is never appended before yu under any circumstances. Jyutping defines three finals not in Yale, eu /ɛːu/, em /ɛːm/, and ep /ɛːp/ and these three finals are used in colloquial Cantonese words, such as deu6, lem2, and gep6. To represent tones, only tone numbers are used in Jyutping whereas Yale traditionally uses tone marks together with the letter h. Jyutping and Cantonese Pinyin represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they have differences, The vowel oe represents both /ɵ/ and /œː/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping. The vowel y represents /y/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas both yu and i are used in Jyutping, the initial dz represents /ts/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas z is used instead in Jyutping. The initial ts represents /tsʰ/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas c is used instead in Jyutping. To represent tones, the numbers 1 to 9 are usually used in Cantonese Pinyin, however, only the numbers 1 to 6 are used in Jyutping

10.
Cantonese
–
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a variety of Chinese spoken in the city of Guangzhou in southeastern China. It is the prestige variety of Yue, one of the major subdivisions of Chinese. In mainland China, it is the lingua franca of the province of Guangdong and some neighbouring areas such as Guangxi. In Hong Kong and Macau, Cantonese serves as one of their official languages and it is also spoken amongst overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and throughout the Western World. When Cantonese and the closely related Yuehai dialects are classified together, Cantonese is viewed as vital part of the cultural identity for its native speakers across large swathes of southeastern China, Hong Kong and Macau. Although Cantonese shares some vocabulary with Mandarin, the two varieties are mutually unintelligible because of differences in pronunciation, grammar and lexicon, sentence structure, in particular the placement of verbs, sometimes differs between the two varieties. This results in the situation in which a Cantonese and a Mandarin text may look similar, in English, the term Cantonese is ambiguous. Cantonese proper is the variety native to the city of Canton and this narrow sense may be specified as Canton language or Guangzhou language in English. However, Cantonese may also refer to the branch of Cantonese that contains Cantonese proper as well as Taishanese and Gaoyang. In this article, Cantonese is used for Cantonese proper, historically, speakers called this variety Canton speech or Guangzhou speech, although this term is now seldom used outside mainland China. In Guangdong province, people call it provincial capital speech or plain speech. In Hong Kong and Macau, as well as among overseas Chinese communities, in mainland China, the term Guangdong speech is also increasingly being used among both native and non-native speakers. Due to its status as a prestige dialect among all the dialects of the Cantonese or Yue branch of Chinese varieties, the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, as defined in the Hong Kong Basic Law. The Chinese language has different varieties, of which Cantonese is one. Given the traditional predominance of Cantonese within Hong Kong, it is the de facto official spoken form of the Chinese language used in the Hong Kong Government and all courts and it is also used as the medium of instruction in schools, alongside English. A similar situation exists in neighboring Macau, where Chinese is an official language along with Portuguese. As in Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant spoken variety of Chinese used in life and is thus the official form of Chinese used in the government. The variant spoken in Hong Kong and Macau is known as Hong Kong Cantonese, Cantonese first developed around the port city of Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta region of southeastern China

11.
Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary
–
Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary are words and morphemes of the Vietnamese language borrowed from Chinese. They comprise about a third of the Vietnamese lexicon, and may account for as much as 60% of the used in formal texts. Together with Sino-Korean and Sino-Japanese vocabularies, Sino-Vietnamese has been used in the reconstruction of the categories of Middle Chinese. Samuel Martin grouped the three together as Sino-xenic, as a result of a thousand years of Chinese control, and a further thousand years of strong Chinese influence, two main layers of Chinese vocabulary have been borrowed into Vietnamese. These layers were first systematically studied by Wang Li, Middle Chinese and Vietnamese are of analytic type, with almost all morphemes monosyllabic and lacking inflection. The phonological structure of their syllables is also similar, the Old Sino-Vietnamese layer was introduced after the Chinese conquest of the kingdom of Nanyue, including the northern part of Vietnam, in 111 BC. The influence of the Chinese language was felt during the Eastern Han period, due to increased Chinese immigration. This layer consists of roughly 400 words, which have fully assimilated and are treated by Vietnamese speakers as native words. The much more extensive Sino-Vietnamese proper was introduced with Chinese rhyme dictionaries such as the Qieyun in the late Tang dynasty, Vietnamese scholars used a systematic rendering of Middle Chinese within the phonology of Vietnamese to derive consistent pronunciations for the entire Chinese lexicon. Around 3,000 words entered Vietnamese over this period, most scholars now follow André-Georges Haudricourt in assigning these words to the Old Sino-Vietnamese layer. Until the early 20th century, Literary Chinese was the language of administration and scholarship, not only in China, as contact with the West grew, Western works were translated into Chinese and read by the literati. In order to translate words for new concepts scholars in these countries coined new compounds formed from Chinese morphemes, the local readings of these compounds were readily adopted into local vernaculars, including Vietnamese. Often, multiple compounds for the concept were in circulation for some time before a winner emerged. A fairly large amount of Sino-Vietnamese have meanings that differ significantly from their usage in other Sinitic vocabularies, for example, bác sĩ is widely used with the meaning physician, while it means doctor or Ph. D. Interestingly, club became 俱樂部 kurabu in Japan, was borrowed to China, then to Vietnam, is read as câu lạc bộ, and abbreviated CLB, which can be an abbreviation for club. Some Sino-Vietnamese words are entirely invented by the Vietnamese and are not used in Chinese, such as linh mục for pastor, or giả kim thuật, others are no longer used in modern Chinese or have other meanings. Because Sino-Vietnamese provides a Vietnamese form for almost all Chinese characters, for example, the name of the Chinese leader Xi Jinping consists of the Chinese characters 習近平. Applying a Sino-Vietnamese reading to each character in turn yields a Vietnamese name Tập Cận Bình, Western names, approximated in Chinese, were further garbled in Vietnamese pronunciations

12.
Victoria Peak
–
Victoria Peak is a mountain in the western half of Hong Kong Island. It is also known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak, with an elevation of 552 m, it is the highest mountain on Hong Kong island, ranked 31 in terms of elevation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The summit is occupied by a radio telecommunications facility and is closed to the public, however, the surrounding area of public parks and high-value residential land is the area that is normally meant by the name The Peak. It is a major tourist attraction that offers views over Central, Victoria Harbour, Lamma Island, the sixth Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Richard MacDonnell had a summer residence built on the Peak circa 1868. Those that built houses named them whimsically, such as The Eyrie, and these original residents reached their homes by sedan chairs, which were carried up and down the steep slope of Victoria Peak. This limited development of the Peak until the opening of the Peak Tram funicular in 1888, the boost to accessibility caused by the opening of the Peak Tram created demand for residences on the Peak. Between 1904 and 1930, the Peak Reservation Ordinance designated the Peak as a residential area reserved for non-Chinese. They also reserved the Peak Tram for the use of passengers during peak periods. The Peak remains a residential area, although residency today is based on wealth. The Peak is home to species of birds, most prominently the black kite. With some seven million every year, the Peak is a major tourist attraction of Hong Kong. It offers spectacular views of the city and its waterfront, the viewing deck also has coin-operated telescopes that the visitors can use to enjoy the cityscape. The number of visitors led to the construction of two major leisure and shopping centres, the Peak Tower and the Peak Galleria, situated adjacent to each other. The Peak is also accessible by taxi and private car via the circuitous Peak Road, the nearest MTR station is Central. Victoria Peak Garden is located on the site of Mountain Lodge, the Governors old summer residence and it can be reached from Victoria Gap by walking up Mount Austin Road, a climb of about 150 metres. There are several restaurants on Victoria Peak, most of which are located in the two shopping centres, however, the Peak Lookout Restaurant, is housed in an older and more traditional building which was originally a spacious house for engineers working on the Peak Tramway. It was rebuilt in 1901 as an area for sedan chairs. In addition to being a major tourist attraction for Hong Kong, at the peak of The Peak, properties are more expensive than anywhere else in the world

13.
British Hong Kong
–
British Hong Kong was the period during which Hong Kong was under British Crown rule from 1841 to 1997. It was established as a Crown colony and later designated a British Dependent Territory in 1981, Hong Kong Island was ceded to Great Britain by the Qing dynasty of China after the First Anglo-Chinese War. The Kowloon Peninsula was added to the colony after the Second Anglo-Chinese War, finally, in 1898, the New Territories were added under a 99-year lease. The transfer has been credited as marking the end of the British Empire, in 1836, the Manchu Qing government undertook a major policy review of the opium trade. Lin Zexu volunteered to take on the task of suppressing opium, in March 1839, he became Special Imperial Commissioner in Canton, where he ordered the foreign traders to surrender their opium stock. He confined the British to the Canton Factories and cut off their supplies, Chief Superintendent of Trade, Charles Elliot, complied with Lins demands to secure a safe exit for the British, with the costs involved to be resolved between the two governments. When Elliot promised that the British government would pay for their stock, the merchants surrendered their 20,283 chests of opium. In September 1839, the British Cabinet decided that the Chinese should be made to pay for the destruction of British property, an expeditionary force was placed under Elliot and his cousin, Rear Admiral George Elliot, as joint plenipotentiaries in 1840. Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston stressed to the Chinese Imperial Government that the British Government did not question Chinas right to prohibit opium, but it objected to the way this was handled. He viewed the sudden strict enforcement as laying a trap for the traders. In 1841, Elliot negotiated with Lins successor, Qishan, in the Convention of Chuenpi during the First Opium War, on 20 January, Elliot announced the conclusion of preliminary arrangements, which included the cession of Hong Kong Island and its harbour to the British Crown. On 26 January, the Union Jack was raised on Hong Kong and Commodore James Bremer, commander-in-chief of British forces in China, on 29 August 1842, the cession was formally ratified in the Treaty of Nanking, which ceded Hong Kong in perpetuity to Britain. The treaty failed to satisfy British expectations of an expansion of trade and profit. In October 1856, Chinese authorities in Canton detained the Arrow, the Consul in Canton, Harry Parkes, claimed the hauling down of the flag and arrest of the crew were an insult of very grave character. Parkes and Sir John Bowring, the 4th Governor of Hong Kong, in March 1857, Palmerston appointed Lord Elgin as Plenipotentiary with the aim of securing a new and satisfactory treaty. A French expeditionary force joined the British to avenge the execution of a French missionary in 1856, in 1860, the capture of the Taku Forts and occupation of Beijing led to the Treaty of Tientsin and Convention of Peking. In the Treaty of Tientsin, the Chinese accepted British demands to open ports, navigate the Yangtze River. During the conflict, the British occupied the Kowloon Peninsula, where the land was valuable training and resting ground

14.
Hong Kong
–
Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour, literally means Little Hong Kong)—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour

15.
Cantopop
–
Cantopop or HK-pop is a genre of Cantonese music made primarily in Hong Kong, and also used to refer to the cultural context of its production and consumption. Originating in the 1970s, Cantopop reached its height of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s before its decline in the 2000s. The term Cantopop itself was coined in 1978 after Cantorock, a term first used in 1974, during its height, Cantopop had spread to China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Cantopop is influenced by international styles, including jazz, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, electronic music, Western pop music, Cantopop songs are almost invariably performed in Cantonese. Western-influenced music first came to China in the 1920s, specifically through Shanghai, Artists like Zhou Xuan acted in films and recorded popular songs and was possibly the first Chinese pop star. In 1949 when the Peoples Republic of China was established by the Communist Party, beginning in the 1950s, massive waves of immigrants fled Shanghai to destinations like North Point in Hong Kong. As a result, many first generation Cantopop artists and composers hail from Shanghai, by the 1960s, Cantonese music in Hong Kong was still limited largely to traditional Cantonese opera and comic renditions of western music. Tang Kee-chan, Cheng Kuan-min, and Tam Ping-man were among the earliest artists releasing Cantonese records, the generation at the time preferred British and American exports. Western culture was at the time equated with education and sophistication, conversely, those who preferred Cantonese music were considered old-fashioned or uneducated. Cheng Kum-cheung and Chan Chai-chung were two popular Cantonese singers who specifically targeted the younger generation, connie Chan Po-chu is generally considered to be Hong Kongs first teen idol, mostly due to her career longevity. Josephine Siao is also another artist of the era, local bands mimicked British and American bands. Two types of local Cantonese music appeared in the market nearly concurrently in 1973, the other was more western style music largely from Polydor Hong Kong. Notable singers from the era include Liza Wang and Paula Tsui, soap operas were needed to fill TV air time, and popular Cantonese songs became TV theme songs. Around 1971, Sandra Lang, a singer who had never sung Cantopop before, was invited to sing the first Cantonese TV theme song The Yuanfen of a Wedding that Cries. This song was a collaboration between songwriters Yip Siu-dak and the legendary Joseph Koo and it was ground-breaking and topped local charts. Other groups that profited from TV promotion included the Four Golden Flowers, Samuel Hui is regarded by some to be the earliest singing star of Cantopop. He was the singer of the band Lotus formed in the late 1960s. The song that made him famous was the song to Games Gamblers Play

16.
Mandopop
–
Mandopop refers to Mandarin popular music. It is now used as a term to describe popular songs performed in Mandarin. Mandopop is categorized as a subgenre of commercial Chinese-language music within C-pop, Mandopop was the first variety of popular music in Chinese to establish itself as a viable industry. It originated in Shanghai, and later Hong Kong, Taipei, among the countries where Mandopop is most popular are mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. S. to record local music in Asia. The recordings were then manufactured outside China and re-imported by the Gramophone Company’s sales agent in China, the Moudeli Company dominated the market before the 1910s until the Pathé Records took over the leading role. Pathé was founded in 1908 by a Frenchman named Labansat who had started a novelty entertainment business using phonograph in Shanghai around the beginning of the 20th century. It originally recorded mainly Peking opera, but later expanded to Mandarin popular music, later other foreign as well as Chinese-own recording companies were also established in China. Early in the 20th century, people in China generally spoke in their own regional dialect, although most people in Shanghai then spoke Shanghainese, the recordings of the pop music from Shanghai from the 1920s onwards were done in Standard Mandarin, which is based on the Beijing dialect. Those involved in this movement included such as Li Jinhui. Mandarin popular songs started in the 1920s were called shidaiqu. The Mandarin popular songs of the Shanghai era are considered by scholars to be the first kind of popular music developed in China. Li Jinhui is generally regarded as the Father of Chinese Popular Music who established the genre in the 1920s, buck Clayton, the American jazz musician, also worked alongside Li. Li established the Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe, and amongst their singing stars were Wang Renmei, there was a close relationship between music and film industries and many of its singers also became actresses. Around 1927, Li composed the hit song The Drizzle recorded by his daughter Li Minghui, the song however was sung in a high-pitched childlike style, a style described uncharitably as sounding like strangling cat by the writer Lu Xun. This early style would soon be replaced by more sophisticated performances from better-trained singers, in 1931, the first sound film was made in China in a cooperation between the Mingxing Film Company and Pathé. Amongst the best-known of the singer-actress to emerge in the 1930s were Zhou Xuan, Gong Qiuxia, although later singing stars need not also have an acting career, the close relationship between the recording and film industries continued for many decades. Later Yao Lee, Bai Guang, Li Xianglan, Wu Yingyin also became popular, other notable singers of this period include Li Lihua and Chang Loo. In 1940 Yao Lee recorded Rose, Rose, I Love You which later became the first Chinese pop song to be covered by Western singers that was a hit

17.
Hong Kong English pop
–
Hong Kong English pop are English language songs that are made, performed and popularised in Hong Kong. Known as simply English pop by Hong Kong people, the height of the English pop era in Hong Kong was from the 1950s to mid 1970s. As English was the official language from 1843 to 1974 in Hong Kong, it was spoken widely, especially in formal context. As a result, pop songs performed in English language were very popular among both ethnic Chinese and British Hong Kong citizens, many of the bandleaders and musicians were Filipinos. Lobing Samson, who led the band at Ciros for many years, later made his way to Hong Kong as did Fred Carpio, Vic Cristobal. In 1959 Tsai Chin recorded an English version of Yao Mins The Second Spring, imported pop music in English language from the West such as The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Johnny Mathis enjoyed much popularity in the city. Inspired by many imported pop music from the West, Hong Kong artists started to produce Hong Kong’s own pop music in English in the 1960s. Prior to this most English-language recordings in the British Colony had been so-called cover versions, Nelsson continued as a singer songwriter with subsequent bands on the Diamond Music label and hits included Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Missing You and How Do You Do. Nelsson later resurfaced in the early 1970s with a band called Ming which recorded mostly his own compositions, including Reasons Why, Never Coming Home, after the band broke up in 1976 Nelsson joined the label as a producer, eventually working his way up to A&R Manager. He left three years later to start his own company which managed and produced such as Louie Castro and Rowena Cortes. Teddy Robin and his band Teddy Robin and the Playboys, Joe Junior with his band The Side-Effects and they mostly came to fame in the latter half of the 1960s. Such programmes have been credited with being one of the reasons for a standard of spoken English in the 1960s and 1970s in Hong Kong. Based in hotels and ballrooms, HK nightclubs featured both Filipino and Chinese dance bands often fronted by female singers. At the upper end of the market, Rebecca Pan, Mona Fong and Kiang Ling became well known for their mixed Mandarin, Diamond Records also became an independent HK label established in 1960, issuing albums in Mandarin and English originals. Pathé Records followed suit with a series of albums on the Columbia and Pathé labels by Chang Loo, Betty Chung, Billie Tam, Judy Jim, and in 1968, Paul Leung produced one of the more remarkable bilingual albums of the 1960s. Imported pop music in English language from the West remained very popular in the territory, other artistes who performed in English include Maria Cordero, Gracie Rivera, The Young Men, etc. As we all know, many of these stars were extremely famous throughout Asian history, good examples would be Annie Chung, and Jennie Chung. This sister duet- also known as Chung Sisters, have made significance to TVB and EYT, beyond, formed in 1983 and later achieved decades long unparalleled success in Hong Kong, released some of their early works in English, such as their Longway without a Friend and Myth

18.
J-pop
–
J-pop, natively also known simply as pops, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. J-pop was further defined by new groups in the late 1970s, particularly electronic synthpop band Yellow Magic Orchestra. Eventually, J-pop replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene, the term was coined by the Japanese media to distinguish Japanese music from foreign music, and now refers to most Japanese popular music. The origin of modern J-pop is said to be Japanese-language rock music inspired by the likes of The Beatles, unlike the Japanese music genre called kayōkyoku, J-pop uses a special kind of pronunciation, which is similar to that of English. One notable singer to do so is Keisuke Kuwata, who pronounced the Japanese word karada as kyerada, additionally, unlike Western music, the major second was usually not used in Japanese music, except art music, before rock music became popular in Japan. At first, the term J-pop was used only for Western-style musicians in Japan, such as Pizzicato Five and Flippers Guitar, on the other hand, Mitsuhiro Hidaka of AAA from Avex Trax said that J-pop was originally derived from the Eurobeat genre. However, the became a blanket term, covering other music genres—such as the majority of Japanese rock music of the 1990s. O. A. Because the band did not want to perform J-pop music, their album featured the 1980s Pop of MTV, according to his fellow band member Toru Hidaka, the 1990s music that influenced him was not listened to by fans of other music in Japan at that time. Hide of Greeeen openly described their genre as J-pop. He said, I also love rock, hip hop and breakbeats, for example, hip hop musicians learn the culture of hip hop when they begin their career. We are not like those musicians and we love the music as very much. Those professional people may say What are you doing, but I think that our musical style is cool after all. By the Taishō period, Western musical techniques and instruments, which had introduced to Japan in the Meiji period, were widely used. Influenced by Western genres such as jazz and blues, ryūkōka incorporated Western instruments such as the violin, harmonica, however, the melodies were often written according to the traditional Japanese pentatonic scale. In the 1930s, Ichiro Fujiyama released popular songs with his tenor voice, Fujiyama sang songs with a lower volume than opera through the microphone. Jazz musician Ryoichi Hattori attempted to produce Japanese native music which had a flavor of blues and he composed Noriko Awayas hit song Wakare no Blues. Awaya became a popular singer and was called Queen of Blues in Japan. Due to pressure from the Imperial Army during the war, the performance of music was temporarily halted in Japan

19.
Rouge (film)
–
Rouge is a 1988 Hong Kong film, directed by Stanley Kwan. The movie is the adaptation of the novel by Lilian Lee and she has waited in the afterlife for Chan for 50 decades and believes he has become lost. Chan was the son of a wealthy family, but longed to be an actor. Realising their romance would never be accepted, the couple committed suicide by overdose in order to be together in death. The title refers to a rouge case Chan gave to Fleur, which she returns to the now-elderly, guilt-wracked man, before leaving the living world

20.
Rumble in the Bronx
–
Rumble in the Bronx is a 1995 Hong Kong martial arts action comedy film starring Jackie Chan and Anita Mui. Released in Hong Kong in 1995, Rumble in the Bronx had a theater run. The film is set in the Bronx area of New York City but was filmed in and around Vancouver, ma Hon Keung, is a Hong Kong cop who comes to New York to attend the wedding of his Uncle, Bill and Whitney. The couple are in the process of selling their successful multicultural supermarket to Elaine, ma finds himself defending those around him against the actions of a biker gang, led by Tony, but becomes targeted. Among them is Nancy, a lingerie model/dancer and the sister of Danny. Both Keung and the gang find themselves coming to a truce as they try to overcome the syndicate and it was also Chans North American breakthrough. Opening on 1,736 North American screens, it was one at the box office in its opening weekend. It finished its North American run with US $32,392,047, the production team initially had to put up fake graffiti during the day and take it all down during the evening, while simultaneously making sure that no mountains made it into the background. However, Chan decided that it was best that the team focus on the action only without worrying too much about scenery. Viewers have noted mountains in the background, which doesnt exist in the NYC landscape, the original spoken dialogue consisted of all of the actors speaking their native language most of the time. In the completely undubbed soundtrack, available on the Warner Japanese R2 DVD release, Jackie Chan actually speaks his native Cantonese while Françoise Yip and Morgan Lam speak English. All of the dialogue was intended to be dubbed over in the international and Hong Kong film markets. During filming, Chan injured his leg while performing a stunt. He spent much of the shooting time with one leg in a cast. When it came to the climax, the crew colored a sock to resemble the shoe on his good foot. His foot still had not completely healed when he went on to shoot his next film, the lead actress and several stunt doubles were also injured during the shooting of a motorcycle stunt, with several people suffering broken limbs and ankles. New Line Cinema acquired the film for distribution and commissioned a new music score. A scene of Keungs airplane flying to New York City was added to the opening credits, neither of these scenes were in the original Hong Kong release

21.
Who Am I? (1998 film)
–
Who Am I. is a 1998 Hong Kong action comedy film directed by Benny Chan and Jackie Chan, who also starred in the lead role. The film was released in Hong Kong on January 17,1998, among the operatives is a Hong Kong national identified as Jackie Chan. The CIA assigns Morgan to investigate the incident, unaware that he, at the same time, the CIA assigns another operative in South Africa for a more covert operation. And is referred to as that by the natives, the tribesmen show him the remains of a crashed helicopter and graves of those who perished aboard. He spends weeks recuperating from his wounds and learning about the tribes culture, after spotting rally cars from several miles away, Who Am I. bids the village farewell and ventures on a journey back to civilization. He befriends Japanese rally navigator Yuki after saving her brother from a snake bite, when they reach Johannesburg, Who Am I. meets Christine Stark, a journalist sent to interview him about his rally adventure. However, Morgan hears of Who Am I. and sends a team to kill him. Morgan also pretends to be his ally, telling him to him if he is in danger. After escaping from the hitmen, Christine cracks a code written on a matchbook found on one of the dead operatives. Who Am I. and Christine bid Yuki farewell and head for Rotterdam to find answers to his identity. In Rotterdam, Who Am I. discovers that Christine is actually an undercover CIA agent who tapped his calls, not knowing whom to trust, he battles Shermans hitmen and sneaks into the Willemswerf alone, where he discovers the masterminds behind the kidnapping of the scientists. It is revealed that Morgan and General Sherman are about to sell the compound to a powerful arms dealer named Armano. He also cancels the transaction and sends the money to a childrens organization Save The Childrens Fund, once he discovers Morgans betrayal, Who Am I. tries to kill Morgan, but interrupted by Morgans hitmen. After escaping from the building from a battle with Morgans hitmen, Who Am I. regroups with Christine, once Christine kicks Morgan and takes him into custody, Who Am I. throws the disc off the bridge and tells Christine he will return to Africa. Jackie Chan as Jackie Chan a. k. a, who Am I. was shot on locations in Namibia, South Africa, and Netherlands between February and March 1997. The film features several landmarks such as Sun City in South Africa, Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, the Beurstraverse, the Cube houses and the Willemswerf building. Several memorable stunts in the Evolution IV were featured, including a spin parking manoeuvre, market chase, in the making-of documentary, the team outlined the numerous Lancer Evolutions that were needed for the entire sequence due to the harsh physical challenges presented by the stunts. The use of the Evolution IV was consistent with the ongoing presence and this takes away the big reveal effect of what actually happened with Jackie and his men, taking away the mystery

22.
CZ12
–
CZ12, also known as Chinese Zodiac, is a 2012 Hong Kong-Chinese action film co-produced, written, directed by, and starring Jackie Chan. The film is a pseudo-reboot of a franchise that began with Armour of God and its sequel, Armour of God II. Released in December 2012, the film went on to gross over US$145 million at the Chinese box office, Chan also earned two Guinness World Records with the film for Most Stunts Performed by a Living Actor and Most Credits in One Movie. The film won Best Action Choreography at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards, the movie begins by Jackie Chan telling the story of the Old Summer Palace and its looting and destruction by British and French soldiers in the Second Opium War. Among the treasures stolen are twelve bronze heads of the animals of the Chinese zodiac, in the present day, the bronze heads are auctioned for millions of euros each. The main company supplying the bronze heads and other stolen relics is MP Corporation, JC, is tasked by MP Corp to find the remaining lost bronze heads, with a promise of a 10 times bonus if he can recover all of them. When left alone, JC scans the multiple bronze Zodiac animal heads using special gloves so that his secret organisation can replicate an extremely realistic model of them. After scanning, he goes to Paris to find a woman named Coco, recommended by Professor Guan, JC, along with his partners Simon, David, and Bonnie, infiltrate a mansion to find two of the bronze heads. JC manages to decode the password to a top secret vault, JCs cover is soon busted but he manages to evade capture with all the valuables. However, he is spotted by Coco, having no time to explain himself, he tells Coco to meet him at a boat house while fleeing from the mansions security. At the boat house, Martin tells Coco that he is working for a corporation that is trying to recover all the lost relics for China. The guards from the storm the boat house and try to attack JC. However, the police is called in and they are all arrested, JC, Coco and Simon are cleared of any wrongdoing and are released. Coco, JC and his team are invited to a castle owned by a lady named Catherine, unknown to them, the guards from the mansion continue to tail them out of suspicion. It turns out that the captain of the Indestructible, one of the involved in the destruction of the Old Summer Palace. This upsets Coco, who confronts Catherine on the issue, JC and his team find many valuable treasures in the castle, including the Bronze head of the Rooster, and hatch a series of plans to ferry them out. JC promises Catherine that he help her locate her great-great-grandfathers remains. The next day, they venture out in search of the Indestructibles treasures, JC instructs Coco and Catherine to stay behind while his team explore the island

23.
Police Story 3: Super Cop
–
Police Story 3, Super Cop, also known as Super Cop in North America, is a 1992 Hong Kong action comedy film starring Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh. Jackie reprises his Kevin Chan Ka-Kui character, a Hong Kong cop from Police Story and it is the first in the Police Story series not to be directed by Jackie, with Stanley Tong taking over the helm. It is also the last appearance in the series for Maggie Cheung as Jackies girlfriend, Ka-Kui is the supercop of the Hong Kong police, with amazing martial arts skills. He is sent to Guangzhou, where the Chinese police forces Interpol director, Inspector Jessica Yang, the target is Chaibat, a drug lord based in Hong Kong. To infiltrate Chaibats organization, Ka-Kui is to get close to Chaibats henchman Panther, Ka-Kui, posing as a petty criminal prisoner, manages Panthers escape with the connivance of the guards. Grateful Panther invites Ka-Kui to go with him to Hong Kong, Panther meets up with some of his other men, and vouches for Ka-Kui. The group heads for Hong Kong, on the way, they pass through Ka-Kuis supposed home village, and Panther insists that Ka-Kui visit his family there. He does not actually know anyone in the village, but is relieved to be greeted by undercover police posing as his family. The local police pretend to arrest Ka-Kui in a restaurant, but Ka-Kui and Yang escape after a big fight and this confirms Panthers trust in them. In Hong Kong, Chaibat welcomes Ka-Kui and Yang to his luxurious hide-out and he takes them with him to a big opium growers fortified compound in the Golden Triangle of Thailand, for a meeting of big-time heroin traffickers. During the meeting, Chaibats gang attack from outside while Ka-Kui, in a huge gun battle, Chaibats gang kill the rival traffickers and their guards, and smash up the compound. The grower survives, but will now only to Chaibat at Chaibats price. The action then shifts to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Chaibats wife, Chen Wen-Shi, is in prison, facing the death penalty for an unspecified crime. Chaibat needs to get her out of prison, because only she knows the codes to his Swiss bank account. Chaibat brings his gang, now including Ka-Kui and Yang, to Kuala Lumpur to stage a jailbreak, a new difficulty arises when Ka-Kui sees his girlfriend May, a tour guide, in Kuala Lumpur leading a party of Hong Kong tourists. He has told her hes on assignment, Ka-Kui evades May at first, but she sees him at the luxurious hotel where Chaibats gang are staying, with the beautiful Yang, and confronts him in a jealous rage. This nearly blows Ka-Kuis cover, but Panther is persuaded that May is angry because Ka-Kui tried to proposition her as a prostitute, later, Ka-Kui gets May alone and explains the situation, and she finally calms down. At one point, May even manages to keep Ka-Kui from inadvertently blowing his own cover, but then, in an elevator, May tells a co-worker about Ka-Kui, and is overheard by one of Panthers men

24.
Crime Story (film)
–
Crime Story is a 1993 Hong Kong action film directed by Kirk Wong, and starring Jackie Chan, Kent Cheng, Law Kar-ying and Puishan Au-yeung. The film was released in Hong Kong on 24 June 1993, unlike nearly all of Jackie Chan films, which feature a combination of action and comedy, Crime Story is mostly a serious film. The film is based on events surrounding of the 1990 kidnapping of a Chinese businessman Teddy Wang. The search takes him from Hong Kong to Taiwan, causing him to cross paths with some powerful mobsters, what complicates matters is that one of the kidnappers is operating within the police force, determined to stop Chan from succeeding. The relentlessly driven Chan finds himself fighting his personal demons at the time he battles the seemingly unending wave of crime in the city. It is set and filmed at Hong Kong and Taiwan in 42 days from 9 July to 20 August 1992, the climactic scene, in which a building is decimated by explosions, was filmed in the deserted Kowloon Walled City, which was scheduled for destruction at that time. Jet Li was originally considered for the role of Inspector Eddie Chan, however, Li turned down the role to do Tai-Chi Master. The role of Inspector Eddie Chan went to Jackie Chan, Crime Story received positive reviews, which cited the sharp change in tone from Jackie Chans previous films and his performance in a dramatic role. The film currently holds a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Crime Story grossed HK$27,457,147 at the Hong Kong box office, slightly lower than the average take for a Jackie Chan film at that time. Chans character had the name Eddie replaced with Jackie in the dub, there were four cuts made from the Miramax version, The pre-credits sequence with the kidnappers was removed. A scene where Wong is dumped overboard, the last scene, Wong Yat-feis wife tells him to thank Inspector Chan. The last scene again where Chan burns Wongs wallet, the Dragon Dynasty version has the original Cantonese track and the cuts made from the Miramax version were restored in the DD version. The DD version was released in 2007 and was about 107 minutes long and it also contains other deleted scenes not seen in either version. After the success of Rumble In The Bronx, Miramax wanted to release Crime Story next in theaters, until Jackie Chan advised against it, Miramax released next Police Story 3, Supercop Instead. DVD was released in Region 1 in the United States on 18 July 2000, on 24 March 2003, DVD was released by Hong Kong Legends in the United Kingdom in Region 2. DVD was released in Region 1 in the United States on 7 August 2007, on 15 January 2013, DVD and Blu-ray was released by Shout. Factory as part of a feature along with The Protector. Jackie Chan filmography List of Hong Kong films of 1993 List of Hong Kong films Crime Story at the Internet Movie Database

25.
New Police Story
–
New Police Story is a 2004 Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Benny Chan, and also produced by and starring Jackie Chan. The film was released in the Hong Kong on 24 September 2004, the film is a reboot of the Police Story series and is the fifth film in the series. New Police Story relies much more on drama and heavy action than its predecessors, the film begins with police Inspector Chan Kwok-wing drinking one whiskey after another. Later, he collapses in an alley, and is found by a stranger, soon after that incident, a group of rebellious youths rob a bank. They explicitly ask a worker to call the police, and are confronted by the police outside the Legislative Council building. They play a game, in which they are awarded money for shooting police officers with assault rifles. Inspector Chan and his squad are called to arrest the gang after their hideout is revealed, however, the hideout is rigged and the ten man police squad fall into various traps one by one. Chan then finds his men in a warehouse, suspended from the high ceiling by ropes. The gang challenges him to training regimes that are taught to policemen, under mental pressure and the taunts of the gang, Chan loses and is left with only his would-be brother-in-law to save, who soon dies nevertheless. He tries to save the bodies of his comrades for burial before explosives blow up the building, being the sole survivor of the incident, Chan takes a year long leave from the police force, drinking heavily to drown his sorrows and guilt. The timeline jumps back to the present day, the stranger, who first featured at the start, brings him home. When Chan wakes up, the man himself as PC1667, Frank Cheng. Frank tries various means to convince Chan to cancel his leave and take up the case, however, he comes to his senses eventually by apprehending the same two youths that robbed him in an earlier scene while Chan was drunk. At the police station, Frank tells Chan that he is Kwongs younger brother, Chans superior Chiu Chan, initially believing that Chans overconfidence alone was responsible for the disastrous raid one year earlier, challenges them to solve the case before he does. Frank and Chan convince Sam Wong, a colleague of Chan, to reveal a clue from the night of the first robbery. He tells them all he knows is that one of the members is a woman. This is confirmed by police officer Sa Sa. At the event, held on the rooftop of a skyscraper, Frank and Chan manage to one of the gang members, Fire while Sam

26.
MTV Movie & TV Awards
–
The MTV Movie & TV Awards is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV, winners are decided online by the general public. Presently voting is done through MTVs official website through a special Movie Awards link at movieawards. mtv. com, the most recent award show took place on April 9,2016. Winners are presented with the golden statue, made by New York firm. Unlike its sister event MTV Video Music Awards, the MTV Movie Awards were taped, the entire production was taped in a completely different order than what the MTV viewing audience saw. For example, the shows host would tape all his/her monologues and introductions at one time, celebrities would often only appear at the live taping for the announcement of their award category, and members of the general audience fill their vacant seats during the other times. Through editing, MTV was able to present to its audience a awards show which appears to be taped in live sequence. This method of production allowed profanity to be edited from the show, the actual live taping aired same-day on pay-per-view channels in most metropolitan cities around the world. Some awards telecasts had also shown in television syndication. However, in 2007, this changed, as MTV and Survivor producer Mark Burnett announced that the 2007 edition would be broadcast live on MTV for the first time on June 3,2007 in Los Angeles. The 2016 broadcast was the first show since 2006 not to air live as the event was taped on April 9,2016 before airing on Viacoms MTV networks the following day on April 10. Since 2007, polls for several awards were voted by users on MTVs official website. Prior to announcing the winner MTV would air testimonials from major Hollywood celebrities praising the winners greatness while only offering a slight tease as to who the winner was, following Clint Howards win and emotional reaction the award was discontinued. The MTV Generation Award is the successor to the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award, the recipient of the award is celebrated for great achievement in movies. The distinction is given to an artist who has shown us a variety of roles, a personal and professional flair and of course. 2016, Will Smith The Silver Bucket of Excellence is an award that was given to a film that has made lasting impact on moviegoers and it was further defined in 2006 as honoring a film of the past that resonates with even more meaning today. The award is given to an actor of young age that managed to inspire others with a portfolio of work. Emma Stone was awarded the first MTV Trailblazer Award on 2012,2013, Will Ferrell 2015, Kevin Hart 2016, Melissa McCarthy Since 1993, scenes are spoofed, mostly from that years most popular films, although television shows and older movies have also been chosen

27.
Rush Hour 2
–
Rush Hour 2 is a 2001 American martial arts buddy cop action comedy film. It is the sequel to the 1998 film Rush Hour and the installment in the Rush Hour film series. The film stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker who respectively reprise their roles as Inspector Lee, the film finds Lee and Carter embroiled in a counterfeit scam involving the Triads. Rush Hour 2 was released August 3,2001 to mixed reviews from critics and it is the highest-grossing martial arts film of all time, and was followed up with another sequel, Rush Hour 3, in 2007. Their leisure is temporarily put on hold as soon as a bomb explodes at the United States Consulate General, Chief Inspector Lee is assigned to the case, which becomes personal when it is discovered that it somehow involves Ricky Tan, his late police officer fathers former partner. Ricky, who was suspected of having a role in elder Lees death, is now a leader of the Triads. This, however, causes Lee and Carter to get into a brawl between them and Rickys bodyguards, with Carter becoming shocked with Lee as they were busy with their vacation. Secret Service, led by Agent Sterling, and the HKPF soon get into a fight over the jurisdiction of the case, suddenly, the nearby room that Carter was in is bombed, causing Lee to believe hes dead and grieve for him. Carter is revealed to be alive, leaving the room before it exploded and he and a relieved Lee cross paths at Rickys yacht where he is holding a dinner party. Ricky scolds his underling, Hu Li, who then leaves as Lee, just as Ricky asks for protection, Hu Li shoots him and makes her escape in the chaos. An angry Sterling holds Lee responsible for Rickys death, and orders him off the case, Carter is ordered back to Los Angeles for involving himself and Lee volunteers to take him to the airport. However, at the airport, Carter gets Lee to return to LA with him and they set up camp outside the Reign Towers, spotting a U. S. Secret Service agent named Isabella Molina, whom Carter met earlier in Hong Kong, after a few misunderstandings, Molina tells the two men that she is undercover, looking into Reigns money laundering of $100 million in superdollars. Lee and Carter pay a visit to Kenny, a known to Carter who runs a gambling den in the back of his Chinese restaurant. He tells them that a usually broke customer recently came into his establishment with an amount of hundred-dollar bills. Carter confirms that they are Reigns counterfeits and they trace the money back to a bank, the mobsters are waiting for them and knock the two cops unconscious, with Molina looking on. After arriving in Las Vegas, Lee and Carter wake up one of the mobs trucks. After finding out where they are, they realize that Reign is laundering the $100 million through the new Red Dragon Casino, at the Red Dragon, Lee and Carter split up

28.
Rush Hour (1998 film)
–
Rush Hour is a 1998 American buddy action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner and starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as mismatched cops who must rescue the Chinese consuls kidnapped daughter. Released on September 18,1998, the film grossed over $200 million worldwide, the films success led to two sequels, Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3. On the last day of British rule in Hong Kong late 1997, Detective Inspector Lee of the Hong Kong Police Force leads a raid at a shipping bar wharf and he finds only Sang, Juntaos right-hand man, who manages to escape. Shortly after Han arrives in the United States to take up his new diplomatic post in Los Angeles, his daughter, the FBI informs Consul Han about the incident. Han calls in Lee to assist in the case, the FBI is afraid that the injury or death of Lee would result in negative attention internationally, decide to pawn him off on the LAPD just to keep him out of their way. Lee finally escapes and makes his way to the Chinese Consulate, where an anxious Han, while being reprimanded by Agent-in-charge Warren Russ, Carter accidentally involves himself in a phone conversation with Sang, where he arranges a ransom drop of $50 million in a couple of hours. The FBI traces the call to a warehouse and sends in a team of only to have them killed by a bomb. Spotting Sang nearby, Lee and Carter give chase, but Sang escapes, Carters colleague, LAPD bomb expert Tania Johnson, helps them trace the detonator to Clive, a man previously arrested by Carter. Clive is guilt-tripped by Lee into revealing his business relationship with Juntao whom he met a restaurant in Chinatown, Carter goes to the restaurant alone where he sees a surveillance video of Juntao carrying Soo-Yung into a van. Lee arrives and rescues Carter, but the two are taken off the case after the FBI blames them for ruining the ransom drop with Lee being sent back to Hong Kong. Despite this setback, Carter appeals to Johnson for assistance and sneaks onboard Lees plane, persuading Lee to help finish the case, Griffin later involves himself in the case, revealing more about the HKPFs past with Juntaos syndicate. At the opening of a Chinese art exhibition at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which Han and Griffin are overseeing, Carter, Lee and Johnson enter disguised as guests, where Carter distracts the guests into leaving for safety. This angers the FBI, but also blows Griffins cover, as Lee catches him walking over to a bar and he and Johnson both conclude that Griffin is Juntao because Carter recognizes him from a surveillance tape in Chinatown. Griffin threatens to detonate a bomb vest attached to Soo Yung, however, Carter manages to sneak out, locate her in the van, drives it into the building and brings her within range of Griffin, knowing that setting it off would kill him as well. Johnson manages to get the vest off Soo Yung while Griffin heads toward the roof with the bag of money, Lee takes the vest and pursues Griffin while Carter shoots Sang dead in a gunfight. Lee and Griffin find themselves dangling from the rafters under the roof, Griffin, holding onto the vest, falls to his death when the vest breaks, but before Lee falls, Carter is able to place a large flag underneath and catch him safely. Han and Soo Yung are reunited, and Han sends Carter, before Carter leaves, Agents Russ and Whitney offer him a position in the FBI, which he rudely refuses. Carter gets on the airplane with Lee, who starts singing Edwin Starrs War,1 at the North American box office with a weekend gross of $33 million in September 1998

29.
Shanghai International Film Festival
–
The Shanghai International Film Festival, abbreviated SIFF, is one of the largest film festivals in East Asia. Along with Tokyo International Film Festival, the SIFF is one of the biggest film festivals in Asia, the first festival was held from October 7 to 14,1993, and was held until 2001. In 2003 there was no due to the SARS outbreak. Since its beginning in 1993, Shanghai International Film Festival has grown to become an A-category international film festival, SIFF organized by Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film & TV and Shanghai Media & Entertainment Group. It awards several Golden Goblet Awards for best film, best director, best actor/actress, SIFF Mart consists of the Film Market, China Film Pitch and Catch, and Co-production Film Pitch and Catch. The SIFFORUM is a communication platform, the 14th Shanghai International Film Festival was held from June 11 to June 19,2011 and was chaired by US director Barry Levinson. The most prestigious award given out at Shanghai is the Jin Jue for the Best Feature Film, voted by the reporters in the entertainment industry, the awards are aimed at promoting medium-and-small-budget homegrown movies and exposing talented young directors and actors. Voted by the reporters in the entertainment industry, the awards are aimed at celebrating international action movies and honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to the genre

30.
Bruce Lee
–
Lee Jun-fan, known professionally as Bruce Lee, was a Hong Kong and American martial artist, actor, philosopher, filmmaker, and founder of the martial art Jeet Kune Do. Lee was the son of Cantonese opera star Lee Hoi-chuen and he is widely considered by commentators, critics, media, and other martial artists to be one of the most influential martial artists of all time, and a pop culture icon of the 20th century. He is often credited with helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films, Lee was born in Chinatown, San Francisco on November 27,1940 to parents from Hong Kong and was raised in Kowloon, Hong Kong with his family until his late teens. He was introduced to the industry by his father and appeared in several films as a child actor. Lee moved to the United States at the age of 18 to receive his education, at the University of Washington, at Seattle. The direction and tone of his films changed and influenced martial arts and martial arts films in the US, Hong Kong, Lee became an iconic figure known throughout the world, particularly among the Chinese, as he portrayed Chinese nationalism in his films. He trained in the art of Wing Chun and later combined his other influences from various sources, in the spirit of his martial arts philosophy. Lee held dual nationality of Hong Kong and the US and he died in Kowloon Tong on July 20,1973 at the age of 32. Bruce Lee was born on November 27,1940, at the Chinese Hospital, according to the Chinese zodiac, Lee was born in both the hour and the year of the Dragon, which according to tradition is a strong and fortuitous omen. Bruces father, Lee Hoi-chuen, was Han Chinese, and his mother, Grace Ho, was of half-Chinese and half-Caucasian descent. Grace Ho was the daughter of Ho Kom-tong and the half-niece of Sir Robert Ho-tung. Bruce was the child of five children, Phoebe Lee, Agnes Lee, Peter Lee. Lee and his parents returned to Hong Kong when he was three months old, Lees Cantonese birth name was Lee Jun-fan. The name homophonically means return again, and was given to Lee by his mother, because of his mothers superstitious nature, she had originally named him Sai-fon, which is a feminine name meaning small phoenix. The English name Bruce is thought to have given by the hospital attending physician. Lee had three other Chinese names, Li Yuanxin, a name, Li Yuanjian, which he used as a student name while he was attending La Salle College. Lees given name Jun-fan was originally written in Chinese as 震藩, however, hence, the Chinese character for Jun in Lees name was changed to the homonym 振 instead, to avoid naming taboo in Chinese tradition. Lee Hoi-chuen had been touring the United States for many years, although many of his peers decided to stay in the US, Lee Hoi-chuen returned to Hong Kong after Bruces birth

31.
Bopomofo
–
Zhuyin fuhao, Zhuyin or Bopomofo is a system of phonetic notation for the transcription of spoken Chinese, particularly the Mandarin dialect. The first two are traditional terms, whereas Bopomofo is the term, also used by the ISO. Consisting of 37 characters and four marks, it transcribes all possible sounds in Mandarin. Zhuyin was introduced in China by the Republican Government in the 1910s and used alongside the Wade-Giles system, the Wade system was replaced by Hanyu Pinyin in 1958 by the Government of the Peoples Republic of China, and at the International Organization for Standardization in 1982. The informal name Bopomofo is derived from the first four syllables in the ordering of available syllables in Mandarin Chinese. The four Bopomofo characters that correspond to these syllables are placed first in a list of these characters. The same sequence is used by other speakers of Chinese to refer to other phonetic systems. The original formal name of the system was Guóyīn Zìmǔ and Zhùyīn Zìmǔ and it was later renamed Zhùyīn Fúhào, meaning phonetic symbols. In official documents, Zhuyin is occasionally called Mandarin Phonetic Symbols I, in English translations, the system is often also called either Chu-yin or the Mandarin Phonetic Symbols. A romanized phonetic system was released in 1984 as Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II, the Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation, led by Wu Zhihui from 1912 to 1913, created a system called Zhuyin Zimu, which was based on Zhang Binglins shorthand. A draft was released on July 11,1913, by the Republic of China National Ministry of Education and it was later renamed first Guoyin Zimu and then, in April 1930, Zhuyin Fuhao. The last renaming addressed fears that the system might independently replace Chinese characters. Zhuyin remains the predominant phonetic system in teaching reading and writing in school in Taiwan. It is also one of the most popular ways to enter Chinese characters into computers and smartphones, in elementary school, particularly in the lower years, Chinese characters in textbooks are often annotated with Zhuyin as ruby characters as an aid to learning. Additionally, one newspaper in Taiwan, the Mandarin Daily News. In teaching Mandarin, Taiwan institutions and some communities use Zhuyin as a learning tool. The Zhuyin characters were created by Zhang Binglin, and taken mainly from regularised forms of ancient Chinese characters, the modern readings of which contain the sound that each letter represents. It is to be noted that the first consonants are articulated from the front of the mouth to the back, /b/, /p/, /m/, /f/, /d/, /t/, /n/, Zhuyin is written in the same stroke order rule as Chinese characters

A BDTC passport issued to Hong Kong permanent residents with British Dependent Territories Citizenship before 1997. On 1 July 1997, all Hong Kong residents lost their BDTC status and most acquired Chinese nationality.

Rumble in the Bronx is a 1995 Hong Kong martial arts action comedy film starring Jackie Chan and Anita Mui. Released in …

Rumble in the Bronx Hong Kong theatrical poster

Jackie Chan's right foot lands at a bad angle after jumping onto the hoverboat, causing a serious injury that would not heal for the remainder of filming. The shot still made it into the finished movie.

Hiragana (平仮名, ひらがな) is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, …

Hiragana characters' shapes were derived from the Chinese cursive script (sōsho). Shown here is a sample of the cursive script by Chinese Tang Dynasty calligrapher Sun Guoting, from the late 7th century.